The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the stress response of patients undergoing elective cataract surgery. Initially four groups of twenty patients each will be compared. One group will receive a retrobulbar block with local anesthesia, a second group will receive a retrobulbar block using local anesthetic with 0.05 mg. added epinephrine, a third group will have general endotracheal anesthesia. A fourth group will have general endotracheal anesthesia for elective non-ocular surgical procedures of approximately one hour duration. The effectiveness, in reducing stress, of various premedication regimes will also be studied in a total of four groups of twenty patients each receiving local anesthesia with added epinephrine. The stress response will be determined by measuring plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine by radioenzymatic methods. Cortisol and plasma renin levels will be measured by using radioimmune assay techniques. Samples will be taken as control prior to surgery, and then at one, three, five, and thirty minutes after the induction or retrobulbar block. A final sample will be taken two hours following the completion of surgery. Blood pressure, heart rate, and electrocardiogram will be recorded. The results should contribute to the planning of the safest, least stressful method of anesthetic management for elderly cataract patients who may frequently manifest coronary artery disease.